[Chapter 11: Dogs]

[Samantha, Minecraftia]

I should've known. I mentally slap myself for forgetting about my vision/dream thing. I should have noticed the dogs walking around the castle. They'll be on us in no time. I cast a nervous glance over to Sky. "What's the fastest way out of here?" I ask her.

"Well, I would say over the wall, but we have no way up, so..," She pauses to think. "Through the throne room. It's a direct path out, but we'll have to hurry."

I look over to Ben, Grace, and the other kid, who've armed themselves with the guards' old swords. "Can you guys run?" I ask them.

Thankfully, Ben says, "Yeah, I can run, I'm just stiff and sore." Everyone else in question nods in agreement.

"Great," Sky chirps, "Follow me guys." She takes off sprinting towards the closest doors into the castle. The sound of barking dogs continues to get louder. I look between the rest of us still standing here, then bolt after her. I hear the others following closely behind. Sky barges into the hallway that the door led to, and ran down the hall at a breakneck pace. We all run as fast as we can, but we should have figured the dogs would catch us sooner or later.

We were about 3/4 down the halls leading to the throne room when hey caught up. I looked over my shoulder to see how the others were doing, when I saw the dogs at the end of the hall. They were quickly catching up with us. What should I do? What can I do? I slow down my pace just enough to let myself fall to the back of the group. The dogs are almost close enough to bite me now. There are about 12 total, all of them either German Shepard, or Rottweiler. Damn, I need more time!

Without stopping, I tear down a banner, and drape it behind be like a cape before dropping it to the dogs. The dogs in front stop, momentarily confused, but only long enough to buy us mere seconds. I start grabbing anything I can in the hallway to throw at them. Vases, banners, unattended weapons, paintings, anything that wouldn't slow me down to pick up and throw.

"Shit, guards! Turn here!" Sky shouts breathlessly back to us in the middle of a intersection that resembles a T. We take a quick turn left, the guards try to stop us before we get the chance, but I notice a bloody slash across their stomachs. Sky must've slashed at them while she was too close to them on her turn.

We finally reach the door to the throne room, and Sky practically tears the door off of its hinges. She gets through then ushers the rest of us through. The dogs are nipping at my heels now, so I'm grateful when Sky slams the door as soon as I'm through. We all take a quick breath before continuing. I finally notice all of the guards simply staring at us.

"King's orders," Sky improvises, "I am to set them free. This one too," she nods to me.

"Then why were the dogs chasing you?" One of the guards questions.

"Do you really want to question our lord's orders?" Sky counters.

The guards murmur between themselves before going back to what they were doing.

"Crap they actually believed you," Ben comments.

"It's not that," Sky replies, "They just don't want to question the king's orders. If they do, who knows what will happen to them. I've heard that they get imprisoned for a week. And that's for something minor."

Ben mutters under his breath before we start walking again. This time not as urgently as when the dogs were chasing us. We approach a barrel. Sky opens it and gestures to the contents. Grace, Ben, and the kid, all look amazed at the contents.

"How... How did you know where they put our stuff?" Grace asks as she grabs her clothes and gear from the other castle.

"Perks of being a guard: you hear things," she says, then drops her voice to a whisper. "Now be quick, it won't be long before they realize..."

"The king is dead!" Someone shouts. "The prisoners are escaping!"

"Shit," the kid mutters.

We quickly finish at the barrel before we take off running again, this time out the front door. Cool air meets us, but no one lets on that it effects them. I hear the dogs again. They must've been let out. Shit. We run away from the castle, hard and far. At some point we finally stop, and gather around a torch for warmth. Sky and I explained that Sky was from Earth too, and Ben and Grace explained that kid they found was too. They also told me what I missed while I was on Earth, and I told them about my discoveries there, leaving out the deal to get back. We all had to explain to the kid and Sky about how to get back though.

"I have name you know," the teen mutters. "It's Zukaden."

Ben and Grace looked shocked at Zukaden. Had they really not known his name? After a month of travel? That's just sad.

"Did you two really not know his name?" I ask teasingly.

"W-well it just... It just never came up," Ben stammers.

"Sure, sure," I reply.

"We should be getting out of the Taiga by tomorrow," Ben says while studying the map, trying to change the subject. "We still need to go about 10000 more blocks east, so we should be getting to the portal in about ten days."

"Sounds great," Grace says with a big yawn. "We should probably get some rest then."

We all say our agreement, then dose off.

Sorry again for the delay. I think I just disliked writing the castle parts. They took too many chapters, and I think I lost interest in writing about the castle, and thus the fan fiction. Anyway, thanks for reading! Please feel free to review the story, favourite it, or follow it! If you're really ambitious you can do all three! I'll try to get more chapters out soon, so until next time.